The government on Friday used the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha to target Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on young men “beating PM Modi with danda (stick)”, sparking chaos in the House with members from the Congress and the Treasury benches almost coming to blows.

The government appeared to be well prepared to target Rahul, figuring out that there was a question listed against his name in Friday’s business of the House.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself taken on Rahul for the “danda” remark, which the Congress MP had made at a campaign rally in Delhi while speaking about unemployment, on Thursday when he replied on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, but the BJP wanted to precipitate matters on Friday, the eve of the elections in the capital.

Modi had even derided Rahul by calling him a “tube light”. Modi again referred to the rival’s comment in a speech in Assam on Friday, apparently with an eye on the Delhi Assembly polls.

In the Lok Sabha on Friday, as soon as Rahul stood and asked a question relating to medical colleges, health minister Harsh Vardhan began reading out from a prepared note, condemning the Congress leader.

Harsh Vardhan told the House, his head down and eyes focused on the piece of paper: “Sir, please excuse me that before I begin answering this question of dear Shri Rahul Gandhi ji, I want to condemn in no uncertain words the outlandish language that he has used against the Prime Minister of the country.”

Congress members immediately stood up in protest and some of them rushed to the Well, but the minister continued reading from the prepared speech.

“In a recent speech, he used words like, ‘after six months the youth of this country will beat Narendra Modi with sticks and drive him out of the country.’ I am surprised that Mr Gandhi’s own father was the Prime Minister of India and I do not think that in the worst of cases our party leaders made such outlandish personal remarks against him…,” Harsh Vardhan, otherwise soft spoken and known to maintain a low profile, read out.

The minister said the entire Lok Sabha in “unequivocal terms condemns” Rahul’s language against the “honourable Prime Minister”.

Even as Harsh Vardhan was speaking, Congress MP Manickam Tagore from Tamil Nadu walked angrily towards the Treasury benches, pointing towards the minister. Many members later claimed that Manickam was trying to snatch the paper from Harsh Vardhan, who was in the second row.

Manickam’s action triggered an uproar from the BJP members. One of them, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh from Uttar Pradesh who is a known muscle man, rushed towards the Congress MP and held him by the hand.

It looked as if a fight was inevitable, but members from both sides rushed to defuse the situation. At this point, Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House. The proceedings had to be adjourned two more times later to avert any discussion on the topic with both sides demanding action against the other.

The Speaker’s decision to club two questions (Nos. 87 and 89) on the ground that they both concerned the health ministry appeared to have addressed Question Hour time constraints and allowed Rahul to speak, following which the BJP attacked him. With just over 10 minutes left for Question Hour to end, the House may not have been able to take up Rahul’s question (No. 89). Question 88, which the Speaker skipped, related to “attack on journalists”.

Later, Rahul accused the health minister of “unparliamentary behaviour” and criticised the “orchestrated protests”.

“The BJP obviously doesn’t like me to speak in the House. So in a completely unparliamentary manner the health minister raised something that I had said outside, which he has no business doing,” the Congress leader told reporters outside Parliament.

“The orchestrated ruckus in Parliament today was designed to prevent me from questioning the government. The youth of India can clearly see that the PM has no clue about how to tackle the unemployment crisis. To protect him, the BJP will keep disrupting Parliament, preventing a debate,” Rahul added.

He accused the government of not allowing the Opposition to speak in Parliament.

After the incident, both sides met the Speaker. The BJP demanded firm action against Manickam and an apology from Rahul for his remarks against the Prime Minister.

Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Chowdhury demanded an apology from Harsh Vardhan, accusing him of “trampling on the right” of Rahul to ask a question in the House. “The minister should apologise and if our member is at fault, then he too will express regret,” Adhir said.